Picking Apples

We went to Baugher's farm yesterday and picked apples. As always, we picked WAY too many! I guess it's time to start making pies. :) Natalie had a great time especially once Daddy found her a baby-sized apple to suck on.

First Trip to the Ballpark

To celebrate Father's Day (belatedly) Natalie "treated" Ryan to an Orioles game at Camden Yards. I think Natalie's favorite parts were trying to get everyone's food (in fact she made a noise that sounded just like "oh wow" when the hot dogs arrived :)) and trying to get into the purse of the woman sitting next to us. Oh well...I guess she will have to learn to love baseball just like Mommy did!

Surprise!

Last week I sat Natalie in her crib and turned to her changing table to pack her diaper bag for a day out. I heard a strange noise, turned around, and this (see first photo below) is what I saw! She pulls herself up at every opportunity now, although it doesn't always work out the way she'd like. I think we are in for a lot of bumps and bruises!

Eating!

Natalie started eating "real" food during the last month. So far she has sampled cereal (rice and oatmeal), sweet potato, carrot, peaches, and bananas. She's also had some applesauce and a pickle. Her favorite so far seems to have been carrot. We start a new food tomorrow, probably squash or green beans. Yum! She gets pretty messy sometimes, mostly because she insists on "helping" and likes to hold the spoon.

Computer Skills

Since Natalie has Aunt Amy wrapped around her little finger, she is frequently allowed to do things that Mommy doesn't let her do. (See photos below). The funniest part is that Natalie usually does something to the computer that Aunt Amy doesn't know how to do or doesn't know how to fix!

Sitting Up

Natalie mastered sitting up on July 14th. She seems to enjoy being able to see and get into things a little more easily. (Of course as I write this post a month later she is more interested in standing!)

Catching Up: Michelle's Birthday

To celebrate the day we took Natalie to the Baltimore Aquarium for the first of what will surely be many visits. She enjoyed her first Metro ride and loved smiling at all the new people. One passenger (an MTA bus driver) even asked if we had ever ridden his bus because Natalie smiled at him and "seemed to recognize" him! As you can see from the pictures she enjoyed all the fish as much as her momma does. She napped through the last half of the Aquarium so I guess next time we will have to start there!

Natalie's Swing

Aunt Amy has two big maple trees in her back-yard and one of them already has hooks for a swing. Since the weather was so nice today, I decided to hang Natalie's swing. It's still a little bit big for her, but we gave it a try anyway. At first she wasn't quite sure about it, but when we tried again later she really liked it.

Who is this dog?

Ally is very protective of Natalie, so as we were getting ready to move to Maryland, we were a little concerned about how Ally would react to Amy's dog Molly. Luckily, we haven't had any problems. Molly seems to like Natalie just as much as Ally and really seems to enjoy napping on the blankets we put down for Natalie to play on the floor. The only thing we have to watch for is that Molly likes to steal Natalie's toys. If you are wondering where Ally is off to while Molly is playing with Natalie, she's probably asleep on the sofa.

Sophie

On our way to Maryland, we stopped to visit our friends Amanda and Keith who were vacationing in North Carolina. Their daughter, Sophie, will turn one on July 28th. It was fun for us to see the girls together. They played a little bit although Sophie is much more mobile! You can also see Natalie's Fourth of July outfit in these pictures. She wore it one day early since we spent the 4th in the car.

Heading North

Natalie's Notebook has officially moved North. With my new job at Johns Hopkins starting this week, we left our house in Birmingham and to move to Maryland. The moving company arrived bright and early on Thursday and packed all of our stuff on the truck in under four hours. The first picture shows the truck making its way down our street after everything was packed. Its due to arrive in Maryland on Tuesday. The second picture, taken just before we left, is of our family; it sure has changed a lot since Michelle and I first moved south two years ago. I had hoped to find the first picture we took in front of the house for comparison, but sadly it hasn't arrived in Maryland yet. We are both happy to be closer to our families and excited about our new jobs, but are already missing Birmingham, especially all our great friends. Hopefully, we will be able to make lots of trips back to visit and our friends will make trips up to Maryland to visit us. And since we still own a house in Birmingham maybe we will move back someday.

Swimming!

Natalie and I attended a play group at the pool on Friday. Thanks to the warmer temperatures, she actually enjoyed being in the water this time. I forgot my camera but thanks to a friend (Thanks, Michelle C.!!) we got some pictures anyway. Natalie definitely preferred being held in the big pool, but she did splash around in the kiddie pool some too. She really enjoyed watching all the "big" kids swimming. Now that we know she likes the water, we might have to invest in a wading pool once we are settled in Maryland!

By Special Request

Hope you feel better soon Grandmom!

Girl meets water and sand.

This weekend, we went to Destin, FL with our friends Scott and Samantha and Tim and Dusti. It marked Natalie's second significant car trip and what I hope will be the first of many trips to the beach. Except for a small run-in with a police officer at the Alabama-Florida border (I'm sure Michelle will give all the details in POTW), the four-hour drive to the beach was pretty uneventful as Natalie slept almost the whole way. Despite the fact that she loves her baths, we could only get Natalie in the water (at the beach or pool) on Friday night. She just didn't like it and whenever we put her feet in the water, she cried. We think maybe it was just a bit too cold for her. She did like playing in the sand and the fact that she had six adults tending to her every need all weekend. The drive back wasn't nearly as peaceful, as she tried her best not to fall asleep and cried unless Michelle sat in the back seat with her.

Here's our girl wading in the water on Friday night, Wiggling her toes in the sand, Having a good time in the tent (Thanks to Jennifer and Olivia for letting us borrow it),Playing a little mini-golf,Completely wipe-out after a long day at the beach and then doing some outlet shopping,And playing cards way past her bedtime after a second-wind.

JT, Traci, Reed, and Aunt Amy

Things have been pretty busy as we get ready to move, so it has been a while since we've been able to sit down and post some pictures to Natalie's blog. Over Memorial Day weekend, JT, Traci, Reed and Aunt Amy made the trip from Maryland. We had a great time showing them around Birmingham.

Here's Natalie having a very serious conversation with JT,

On a hike with Michelle,

And coloring with Reed and Aunt Amy.

Roll Me Over

Natalie learned how to roll over today. Check out the videos below.

Natalie's Baptism

Natalie was baptized today at Riverchase and Aunt Patricia was able to participate in the ceremony. Nana made her a beautiful dress and Grandmom got her a bib that kept it dry until it was time. She started to get a little fussy during the first hymn and we thought she might cry, but luckily that didn't happen. We should have known better since she loves to get her hair wet.

It must have been exhausting, because she slept in Michelle's arms during the sermon.

Let me tell you something

I think I will just let Natalie do the talking in this post.

Zzzzzzzzzz......

Apparently, the first day of day-care and the first day back to work after maternity leave are totally exhausting.